This document summarizes the key differences between sales and marketing. Sales focuses on selling existing products and services to generate revenue in the short-term, developing customer relationships. Marketing focuses on understanding customer needs and directing company strategy to profitably meet those needs in new market segments over the long-term. While sales and marketing need to work together, they require different skills and perspectives - sales looks out from the company to customers, while marketing looks back from customers to help guide the company's future direction.

1. Jilaveanu Madalina
&
Marica Mirela

2. Working with mid-size companies, we often hear the
terms Sales and Marketing used together. In some
ways, this is logical because the two need to work
together. But in fact, they are two very different
functions and require very different skills.

3. The job of Sales is to “sell what’s in
stock”. The company has specific products or
services and the job of Sales is to sell those
things.
Sales develops relationships with customers
and/or channel partners. They knock down the doors,
overcome objections, negotiate prices and terms and
often work internally to be sure their customer’s
orders are filled.

4. The perspective of Sales is from inside the
company out toward the customers and their
horizon is focused on this week, this month
and this quarter. If sales is not focused on
the now, then there may not be any revenue
this week, month or quarter.

5. A key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from
the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company
and helping lead the company where it should be in the future.

6. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward
the segments, or groups of customers and channels where
the company can profitably compete. It should help the
organization see how it needs to modify its product
offerings, pricing and communication so that it meets
the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.

7. Not even the best hunter can
bring home dinner if they are
shooting blanks at
decoys. Markets are constantly
changing. The job of marketing is
to stay ahead of the changes, and
help the hunters see where they
should be hunting and provide
them with the right ammunition.

8. If Marketing is only
focused on delivering the
ammunition for today, nobody
will see where the industry
is moving or where the
company needs to hunt next.
This limits growth.

9. Sales needs to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless
your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you
can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next
and to develop the 18 month plan to get there without losing focus on
today’s revenue.

10. Besides, if your sales executive was
really good at developing future-focused
business strategies and tying that strategy
to the plans and tools of marketing to make
it happen, they would be a marketing person
and not a now-focused sales person.

11. Text:
 http://www.salesandmarketing.co
m/
 http://www.diffen.com/difference
/Marketing_vs_Sales
 http://vendor-
mk.blogspot.ro/2010/11/diferenta-
intre-marketing-si-vanzari.html
Images:
 http://www.3hrlearning.com/marketing-vs-
sales/
http://grandeurresortservices.com/sales-
marketing/
 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/201402221
80736-41666699-marketing-people-vs-sales-
people
http://genobz.com/2014/competencies-
required-sales-marketing-role/
http://www.photomint.com/sales-marketing/